Leveling device for portable stove

ABSTRACT

A leveling kit for a portable stove is provided. The leveling kit can include plurality of leveling devices. Each leveling device can include a mounting plate having a plurality of openings. Each leveling device can further include a fastener that extends through the mounting plate to couple the leveling device with the portable stove and a leveling member having a foot. The leveling member can be configured to have an adjustable height.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/374,989, filed on Jan. 27, 2012, entitled “Leveling Devicefor Portable Stove”. This application is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

DESCRIPTION OF ATTACHED APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the field of leveling devices andmore specifically to a leveling device for portable stove.

Portable stoves are commonly used during camping activities. They areusually gas powered and may have one or more burners.

When setting up a camping stove on an irregular surface such as thenatural ground or a sloped table top, it becomes necessary to level thecooking surface of the stove so that pots or pans placed upon the stovewill sit in a level horizontal orientation. It would therefore be idealto have a device that can help level the stove no matter what the angleof the surface under the stove,

Leveling devices such as threaded metal posts have been incorporatedinto the underside of various home or commercial appliances so that thetop of the appliance is level in the horizontal plane. However, anindependent adjustable leveling device that can be adjusted to the baseof most common portable stoves, and can be folded for compact storage,has not been available to date.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the invention is to provide a leveling device forportable stoves that allows the stove to be placed on a non levelsurface and be adjusted to be level for use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a leveling device forportable stoves that can adjust to easily attach to the underside ofportable stoves of various sizes and models.

Another object of the invention is to provide a leveling device forportable stoves that folds compactly for shipping and storage.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, anembodiment of the present invention is disclosed.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there isdisclosed a leveling device for a portable stove comprising: a firstrigid spine elongate member, a second rigid spine elongate member, fourrigid elongate arms, four metal threaded posts, said first elongatespine member having a centrally located elongate slot, said secondelongate spine member having an integral tab portion at one end, saidtab portion having an aperture that accepts a threaded screw, saidthreaded screw slidably fixed to said elongate slot in said firstelongate spine member, said elongate arms each having a centrallylocated elongate slot, said elongate arms each rotatably pinned throughsaid elongate slots of said arms to each end of said first elongatespine member and said second elongate spine member, said four metalthreaded posts each screwed into mating threaded apertures at eachdistal end of said elongate arms, said first and second spine elongatemembers capable of being extended in relation to each other via saidelongate slot in said first elongate spine member, and said four rigidelongate arms capable of being rotated and extended or retracted toaccommodate the size of the base of any standard portable stove so thatsaid portable stove can be placed on top of said first and second spinemembers and said four arms and said threaded posts can be adjusted toaccommodate any irregularities in terrain that the said stove wouldotherwise be resting upon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings constitute a part of this specification and includeexemplary embodiments to the invention, which may be embodied in variousforms. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects ofthe invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate anunderstanding of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the invention in the closed position.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the invention in the closed position.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the invention in the closed position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the invention in the use position.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the invention with arms slightlyretracted for a smaller stove.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the invention in use with a portablestove.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of the alternate embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 11 is a bottom plan view of an alternate embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 12 is a partial perspective view of an alternate embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 13 is a partial perspective view of an alternate embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 14 is a partial perspective view of an alternate embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 16 is a top plan view of an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 18 is a top plan view of an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 20 is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein.It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may beembodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed hereinare not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for theclaims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the artto employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailedsystem, structure or manner.

Referring now to FIG. 1 a top view of the invention 100 is shown. Theinvention is made of a series of relatively flat, elongate members thatare pinned together. Arms 2 and 16 include slots 4, 14 and are pinned toa central elongate spine 20, 8 via pin members 10, 22. The pin members10, 22 are made of threaded posts which terminate is thumb screws, suchas thumb screw 6 in FIG. 1 and thumb screws 40, 46 in FIG. 2, so theuser can loosen the thumb screws, rotate out the arms 2, 16 andtightened the thumb screws to lock in place in the use position as shownin FIGS. 4 and 5. Threaded apertures 18, 52 allow the user to insert athreaded post and foot 70, 74 as shown in FIG. 4. It should be notedthat an alternate embodiment can use a series of evenly spaced apertureslocated in each elongate member in place of slots. This embodiment canbe seen in the alternate embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

FIG. 2 shows the bottom view of the invention 100 which shows arms 28,26 which are pinned by lockable pin members or thumb screws 46 40. Arm26 includes a hinged extension price 24 and arm 28 includes a hingedextension piece 36. The extension pieces 24, 36 can be folded over tocreate a level surface for a portable grill to sit on as shown in FIG.4. Threaded apertures 50 align with each other when extension piece isfolded over. Threaded apertures 48 align with each other when extensionpiece 24 is folded over. Both apertures 48, 50 allow a person to insert[[a]] threaded posts and feet 72, 76.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of the invention and shows how all pieces stackon top of each other when in the closed, storage position.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the invention in the use position. Arms 2,26, 16, 28 are swung out from main spine elongate members 8, 20.Threaded posts 70, 72, 74, 76 are threaded into mating apertures at theend of each arm. Integral pads 24, 36 are level with the top surface ofmain spine members 8, 20. Slot 60 allows thumb screw 90 to be loosenedor tightened to allow spine members 8, 20 to slide out from each otherand be set to the desired length depending on the size of the portablegrill being leveled. The portable grill 150 as shown in FIG. 6, sits onthe ends of arms 16, 26, 2, 28. The threaded posts 70, 72, 74, 76 can beturned clock-wise or counter clock-wise depending on the level of theterrain 180 directly under the grill 150.

FIG. 5 shows a bottom view of the invention. In this view, spine members8, 20 have been extended outward and arm members 2, 26, 16, 28 swing outinto the use position and adjusted in length to accommodate a particularsize of portable grill. Thumb screws 40, 46 are tightened at a mid pointlocation on slot 30, 32 of arms 26, 28. The same is true for the otherthree arms 16, 28, 2. Spine member 20 includes an integral tab 80. Anaperture in tab 80 coincides with slot 60 to allow screw 90A to betightened by thumb screw 90 as shown in FIG. 4. In the above describedway, the invention 100 can be adjusted in size to accommodate a varietyof sizes of portable grills.

While FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate that arms 2 and 16 are positionedrelative to a top surface of spine members 8 and 20, respectively, andthat arms 26 and 28 are positioned relative to a bottom surface spinemembers 8 and 20, respectively, one of ordinary skill in the art wouldappreciate that arms 2, 16, 26, 28 can be positioned in any arrangementwith respect to spine members 8 and 20. For example, arms 2, 16, 26, 28can be positioned relative to the same surface of spine members 8 and20, respectively, such as the top surface (not shown) or the bottomsurface (as illustrated in FIGS. 15-20) of spine members 8 and 20.Alternatively, arms 2, 16, 26, 28 can be positioned relative todifferent surfaces of spine members 8 and 20. For example, arms 2 and 26can be positioned relative to a first surface of spine members 8 and 20,respectively, and arms 16 and 28 can be positioned relative to a secondsurface of spine members 8 and 20, respectively, where the first surfacecould be a top surface and the second surface could be a bottom surfaceof spine members 8 and 20 or vice versa. In yet another exemplaryembodiment, arms 2 and 28 can be positioned relative to a first surfaceof spine member 8 and arms 16 and 26 can be positioned relative to thesecond surface of spine member 20, where the first surface could the atop surface of spine member 8 and the second surface could be a bottomsurface of spine member 20 or vice versa. In addition, arms 2, 16, 26,28 can be coupled to spine members 8 and 20, respectively, such that thefasteners are positioned on either the top surface or bottom surface ofspine members 8 and 20. It is noted that while two spine elongatemembers 8, 20 are illustrated in FIG. 4, in an alternative embodiment, asingle spine elongate member can be implemented.

In an exemplary embodiment, when a fastener, such as a thumb screw, isused to couple arms 2, 16, 26, 28 to spine members 8 and 20, each thumbscrew can be orientated with respect to either the top surface or thebottom surface of spine members 8 and 20 regardless of whether arms 2,16, 26, and 28 are positioned with respect to the top surface or thebottom surface of spine members 8 and 20. For example, when arm 2 ispositioned with respect to the top surface of spine 8, the thumb screwcan be orientated such that the thumb screw can be loosened from the topsurface of spine 8 (as illustrated in FIG. 4) or the thumb screw can beorientated such that the thumb screw can be loosened from the bottomsurface of spine 8 (not illustrated).

FIG. 7 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention 200. In thisembodiment central spine members 210, 212 are pinned together bystandard screws 218. The arms are also extendable and held together byscrews 220 as shown in arm 208. The Spine members and arms can also befixed together by the slot and thumb screw method as shown in thepreferred embodiment in FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 shows a detail partial view of one end of the alternateembodiment 200. Spine piece 210 is fixed to T member 216. The notch 224in T member 216 allows spine member 212 to slide through. Hinge members222, 224 allow arms 204, 208 to swing out as needed. The arms can alsobe folded completely in towards the spine members 210, 212 for compactstorage.

Obviously, either version of the above described portable stove levelingdevices can be built into the underside of a stove by the manufacturerof the stove.

FIGS. 9-14 illustrate an alternative leveling device for a portablestove. As best illustrated in FIG. 9, each leveling device 300 cancomprise a mounting plate 310, a leveling member 320, and fasteners 330.In an exemplary embodiment, a plurality of leveling devices 300 can becomprised in a kit. Leveling devices 300 can be positioned in anyarrangement or configuration with respect to a portable stove 340. Inaddition, any number of leveling devices 300 can be coupled to stove 340in order to level stove 340 with respect to the surface in which stove340 is resting. For example, leveling device 300 can be coupled to a pan350 of the portable stove 340 where a plurality of leveling devices 300can be spaced apart around the pan of the portable stove. In anexemplary embodiment, leveling devices 300 can be arranged in eachcorner of pan 350. However, the plurality of leveling devices 300 canhave any arrangement with respect to pan 350 such that leveling devices300 can be positioned anywhere along the length and/or width of pan 350.For example, two leveling devices 300 can be positioned at the cornersof the pan 350 at the front portion of stove 340 and a single levelingdevice 300 can be positioned between the corners of the pan 350 at therear portion of stove 340. Alternatively, three leveling devices 300 canbe equally spaced along the front portion and the rear portion of stove340 such that one leveling device 300 can be disposed at each corner ofthe pan 350 of the stove 340 and one leveling device 300 can be disposedequidistant between the two leveling devices 300 disposed at the cornersof the front portion and the rear portion of stove 340.

The mounting plate 310 can include openings to receive the levelingmember 320 and fasteners 330. The mounting plate 310 can be made of anyridged material, such as metal, plastic, etc., to provide structuralintegrity to the leveling device when coupled to the portable stove 340.The mounting plate 310 can be mounted to the inner surface of the pan350 of the stove 340 (as illustrated in FIG. 11 or on an outer surfaceof the pan 350 of the stove 340 (not shown).

The mounting plate 310 can be coupled to the stove 340 using variousfasteners 330. As best illustrated in FIGS. 9-11, fasteners 330 can beused to couple leveling device 300 to stove 340. For example, fasteners330 can be a bolt and a nut 335 can be threadedly engaged with bolt 330.However, any other type of fastener can be used such as screw, rivet,adhesive, etc.

Leveling member 320 can be any structure configured to be adjusted suchthat a change in height of the stove 340 can be produced. When aplurality of leveling members 320 are coupled to stove 340, eachleveling member 320 can be independently adjusted such that the stove340 can achieve a substantially level orientation with respect to thesurface underlying the stove 340. In an exemplary embodiment, levelingmember 320 can comprise a threaded post 360 and a foot 370. Threadedpost 360 can be configured such that the height of foot 370 can beadjusted by rotating the leveling member 320 in the clock-wise and/orcounter clock-wise direction. While a leveling member 320 having athreaded post 360 and foot 370 is illustrated in FIGS. 9-11, any type ofleveling member 320 can be implemented. For example, leveling member 320can comprise a device capable of raising and lowering foot 370 using aratcheting technique, piston technique, etc. Foot 370 can have any sizeor shape capable of providing support to level the stove 340.

Each leveling device 300 can be coupled to a portable stove 340. In anexemplary embodiment, mounting plate 310 can be placed on an innersurface and/or an outer surface of a pan 350 of stove 340. One or morefastening members 330 can be engaged through an opening formed in thepan 350 in order to couple the mounting plate 310 to the inner surfaceand/or outer surface of pan 350. At least a portion of leveling member320 can extend through another opening formed in pan 350, such as aportion of threaded post 360, where foot 370 extends from an outersurface of the pan 350. After all leveling devices 300 are coupled tothe portable stove 340, each leveling member 320 can be individuallyadjusted in order to substantially level portable stove 340 with respectto the surface in which the stove 340 is resting upon. For example,leveling members 320 can be adjusted such that when the stove 340 is inuse, any undesired migration of food being cooked can be substantiallyprevented. The height of the each leveling member 320 can be differentand/or substantially the same depending on the underlying surface. Theleveling device 300 can be coupled to the stove 340 at any time. Forexample, it could be coupled during manufacture of the stove 340 orafter the stove 340 has been assembled.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferredembodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention tothe particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended tocover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may beincluded within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A leveling device for a portable stovecomprising: a spine member; a plurality of arms coupled to the spinemember, wherein a first arm is coupled to a first surface of the spinemember and a second arm is coupled to a second surface of the spinemember; and a leveling member coupled to an end of each of the pluralityof arms, wherein each leveling member is independently adjustable suchthat the portable stove is substantially level with respect to anunderlying surface.
 2. The leveling device of claim 1, wherein the firstsurface and the second surface are the same surface of the spine member.3. The leveling device of claim 1, wherein the first surface and thesecond surface are different surfaces of the spine member.
 4. Theleveling device of claim 1, further comprising a third arm coupled tothe first surface of the spine member and a fourth arm coupled to thesecond surface of the spine member.
 5. The leveling device of claim 4,wherein the first surface and the second surface are the same surface ofthe spine member.
 6. The leveling device of claim 4, wherein the firstsurface is a top surface of the spine member and the second surface is abottom surface of the spine member.
 7. The leveling device of claim 4,wherein the first arm and the third arm are coupled on a right side ofthe spine member and the second arm and fourth arm are coupled to a leftside of the spine member.
 8. The leveling device of claim 4, wherein thefirst arm and the second arm are coupled on a right side of the spinemember and the third arm and the fourth arm are coupled to a left sideof the spine member.
 9. The leveling device of claim 1, furthercomprising fasteners to adjust the plurality of arms to extend from thespine member.
 10. The leveling device of claim 1, wherein the spinemember comprises a first spine member and a second spine member.
 11. Aleveling kit for a portable stove comprising: a plurality of levelingdevices, each leveling device comprising a mounting plate comprising aplurality of openings, a fastener that extends through the mountingplate to couple the leveling device with the portable stove, and aleveling member comprising a foot, wherein the leveling member isconfigured to have an adjustable height.
 12. The kit of claim 11,wherein the leveling member comprises a threaded post configured to beadjusted in a clock-wise and counter clock-wise direction.
 13. The kitof claim 11, wherein the mounting plate is coupled to an inner surfaceof the portable stove.
 14. The kit of claim 11, wherein the mountingplate is coupled to an outer surface of the portable stove.
 15. Aportable stove comprising: at least one burner; a pan having a frontportion and a rear portion; and a plurality of leveling devices coupledto the pan, each leveling device comprising a mounting plate comprisinga plurality of openings, a fastener that extends through the mountingplate to couple the leveling device with the portable stove, and aleveling member comprising a foot, wherein the leveling member isconfigured to have an adjustable height.
 16. The portable stove of claim15, wherein the plurality of leveling devices comprises a first levelingdevice and a second leveling device, wherein the first leveling deviceis positioned at a first corner of the pan and the second levelingdevice is positioned at a second corner of the pan.
 17. The portablestove of claim 16, further comprising a third leveling device positionedbetween the first corner of the pan and the second corner of the pan.